Future Networks Development Centre
Location: Westcott Space Cluster
Situated in the heart of Buckinghamshire, the Westcott Future Networks Development Centre (FNDC) offers the opportunity for businesses and research organisations to work towards a shared vision that will help define and develop the next-generation of telecommunications as well as the applications and services that exploit them, whether on land, air, sea or beyond earth.
The centre’s focus is on robust, scalable and resilient communications. This is achieved through exploitation of innovative hybrid wireless architectures that embrace terrestrial (non-space) and space technologies to deliver predominantly telecommunications solutions. The centre provides hardware, software, platform and technical testbeds, offering an environment designed to enable product prototyping and product development to start-ups, SMEs and other businesses, while equally catalysing the maturing of R&D outcomes from universities and research organisations.
Features within the centre include lab facilities, private fully configurable outdoor 5G networks, edge compute, satellite communications terminals, NTN testbeds and cloud computing technology.
Capabilities
Satellite communication terminals – A mix of fixed and mobile terminals with varying capabilities and operating on different service provider networks
Fully configurable/flexible private 5G networks (indoor and outdoor) – The centre operates a fully customisable set of 5G networks (including O-RAN) that are based on a mix of hardware and software solutions, with the flexibility to introduce different mid-haul and backhaul technologies.
Comms on the move Mobile lab – A customised lab on wheels (van) for testing telecommunications solutions as well as applications/services in real-world environments
Physical layer channel emulation – 3GPP fully compliant UE and RU emulator that supports functional, capacity, performance and regression testing of 5G base stations standalone gNBs and or split gNBs (DU/CU)
Areas of work
This area of work focuses on the integration of satellite and terrestrial mobile networks, 5G, 5G advanced and 6G – predominantly above physical layer. State-of-the-art NTN testbed are being maintained and enhanced, with close alignment to the key developments in this area in the industry, academia and standards. In addition to the downstream elements, complementary upstream areas of work include advanced satellite ground stations (NTN gNBs), hosting software applications/services on satellites.
This area focuses on innovation around devices that support seamless access and use of hybrid TN/NTN systems and novel satellite communication technologies (including Direct to Device). Network architecture optimisation to enable better user experience, sustainability and operation in challenging environments are also explored. These include, but are not limited to the use of distributed computational paradigm (e.g. edge, mist, fog compute) on both TN/NTN networks and AI driven power optimisation techniques.
Innovation around the physical layer (RF signals) is at the heart of this focus area. Within the broader context of TN/NTN convergence and evolution towards future networks, the areas of work include the coexistence and management of TN/NTN radio signals, the exploitation of communication bearers to provide sensing and positioning services (JCAS) – through the use of both simulations and physical implementations.
As a rapidly emerging area of interest in Telecoms around the world, this is a highly innovative area which focuses on the use of AI to enable more adaptable, sustainable and resilient space-enabled telecommunication networks. The core capabilities within the centre include cloud and edge computing platforms to enhance the performance of end-to-end systems that use TN/NTN networks. In addition, the centre hosts the development of innovative enabling services that would underpin the operations of autonomous systems in the future.
- 5G TN/NTN & 6G testbeds
- The NTN testbed combines UE simulators, network emulators, and satellite constellation models to replicate real-world terrestrial and non-terrestrial conditions, enabling validation of mobility, latency, Doppler, and handover scenarios at scale. Leveraging open-source 5G core and RAN solutions
- like Open5GS, Free5GS,UERANSIM, srsRAN, and OpenAirInterface, it provides a flexible and cost-effective platform for research, prototyping, and interoperability testing.
- Applications testbeds
- NG-112 eCall enhanced testbed with support for private/commercial 5G, live LEO/GEO commercial satellite communication services and advance simulated NTN channels
Integrated Telecoms Ecosystem
In line with the evolution towards next generation of mobile technology, Non-Terrestrial Networks play a crucial role towards achieving a highly dependable, sustainable and global coverage on earth. Current trends in satellite communications, position space based technologies to support a wide range of use cases. These include achieving high data rates on hard to reach areas, providing Over-the-air updates through broadcast/multicast services, powering the comms for critical IoT or simply managing congestion by offloading of terrestrial networks traffic.
With the rapidly emerging space economy, terrestrial technologies can be integrated into space structures to achieve higher performance and service a wider range of application needs such as edge compute capabilities, hybrid multi-bearer comms use, mesh communications, etc.
Get in touch
We can help you identify where you are on your development journey, connect you with industry experts, and highlight relevant equipment – facilities@sa.catapult.org.uk
